Omnifocus inbox aka getting things done

After reading Charles’ inbox hero post, I thought I’d take a whack at describing my own process. Charles’ technique works; I can attest to it, because it’s essentially how I managed to stay on top of my own email (which, at times, pours in at the rate of a few hundred messages a day). The problem is, there’s little in the way of prioritization or management.

Keeping the principles of Getting Things Done at heart, I set out to find a solution that works unobtrusively, but that actually helps me manage the deluge of mail. Whatever the solution, it needs to support a simple workflow: For each incoming task, I’m going to delete it, delegate it, do it or file it. The first three are pretty easy, but that last one is always tricky. File it where? And what about prioritizing or context management? I don’t want to have to sort through a huge list of emails when I’m talking to someone on the phone.

Enter OmniGroup’s OmniFocus, the hands-down best GTD application I’ve ever laid hands on. The key to success here, at least for me, is its integration with Mail. The fact that it is not limited to just managing my mail-related tasks makes it the ultimate winner (and, according to OmniGroup, an iPhone compatible version will be out soon).

For starters, OmniFocus lets me tap a key and instantly move a copy of my email message into OmniFocus (see inset slides, below). I can quickly set a context project and a context and, if necessary, a due date. The context helps keep me on-target when it comes time to execute my tasks, and OmniFocus is great at prioritizing tasks. It can handle concurrent tasks, sequential tasks and tasks with due dates. My most frequently used perspective in OmniFocus is simply the “Due Soon” perspective. It gives me a clear list of what I need to be working on, and organizes it by context (so, for example, if I’m in my daily scrum I know what I should be talking about right now, in the scrum).

With OmniFocus, staying on top of my mail has become a breeze, and my inbox stays empty:

• Every now and then during periods of inactivity, I’ll alt-tab over to Mail and process everything in my inbox.
• At most, I skim-read the message, often just looking at the subject line.
• If it’s junk or something I’m not interested in, delete it. I don’t bother distinguishing between junk and other uninteresting stuff.
• If it’s something I can delegate to someone else, do so now. Forward it along with an appropriate note (cmd-shift-F) and then delete it. If it’s something I want a record of, drop it in the appropriate archive folder instead of deleting.
• If I can do it right now, then do it and delete. This typically means it’s something that takes less than a couple minutes.
• Otherwise, copy it into OmniFocus (ctrl-alt-c) and set the appropriate project, context and due date. Then, delete the original message.

That’s it. My inbox stays empty, and my work becomes managed using an excellent GTD-based system.

In fact, OmniFocus makes it even simpler. I can define rules in Mail that automatically move things from Mail into OmniFocus. For example, I have several clients and each client uses a different project management tool. Some use Basecamp; some use JIRA; others, something else. But each tool sends me an email telling me when I have a new task, or need to get something done. OmniFocus’ rules are great at intercepting those emails and turning them into OmniFocus tasks automatically.

Why this works for me

I’ve got way too much email to rely on a single, massive to-do list. Important things that should get attention soon would be buried. Also, I need a single place that manages everything I need to do; I’ve always had a problem using several different tools to manage tasks, and leaving “things to do” in mail just adds another tool I have to check to find out what I should be working on.

OmniFocus uses GTD principles. It lets me organize my work using a “project-based” mentality. That is, I can switch to a project view and create a series of tasks (either linear or concurrent), thinking in “project planning” mode. Each task is assigned a context, such as “email” or “meeting” or “mac,” as well as due dates when a due date matters.

But we don’t usually work in a project mindset. For example, when if I’m at the store I want to buy everything that I need, regardless of which project needs the item. This is a context; in my case, I have an “errands” context. I can open up the “errands” context at any time, and get a complete list of every errand I need to run across all my projects. Another example is our daily scrum; I can open the “Daily Scrum” context and have a list of everything that needs to be discussed across all projects.